Showing posts with label babies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label babies. Show all posts

Sunday, May 17, 2015

SHB Sew-Along Baby Clothes Roundup: Sweet, Cool and Geeky

Block-printed Lego Blocks Onesie/Bodyshirt
Baby D in his way-too-big-but-he'll-grow-into-it Lego bodyshirt

Our Small Human Being Sew-Along has come to an end (OK, technically it ended two weeks ago, but since your hosts all have small babies, let's overlook that, shall we?), and it's time to round up the final projects for Category 1: Baby Clothes! Cindy of Cation Designs will be rounding up Category 2: Baby Accessories and Clio of Clio & Phineas will be featuring the Category 3: For Parents projects.

We were impressed and inspired by what our participants made — especially since some of you had multiple small children running about, were tired and pregnant, and/or were working mamas to small babies.

I know I personally was so fired up by the sew-along I've kept the momentum going, and have really learned to work in tiny baby-catnap-sized time chunks — tracing a pattern here, sewing a few seams there, doing a little handsewing.

And on to the projects, in no particular special order. I do think I've captured everyone's clothes submissions here, but please let me know if I missed you, as we'd like to feature at least one piece from everyone. (Where I have used links instead of photos, it's due to photo permission issues, not because I didn't want to feature a piece).

The sweet

Lindsay (aka lindsaystitches on Instagram) made a sweet pair of harem pants style leggings for her baby girl due in July, using heart print knit leftover from another project:

Laurel (aka Dart & Gather) made this adorable appliquƩd rabbit tee using scraps from old maternity clothes, as well as the Oliver + S layette set and coordinating hats I featured previously:

Rabbit tee 12M

Lisette of What Would Nancy Drew Wear? made this fantastic rickrack-trimmed romper from a 1950s vintage pattern, Advance 6063:

Advance 6063

Dina fought through her pregnancy nausea and exhaustion to make this adorable bear-eared jacket and pants (similar to our sew-along logo!):

Sew-Along co-hostess Clio made a sweet elephant print baby sleep gown for her little Taco baby with a convertible mitten cuff, and wrote up a tutorial for the cuff, too!

Brianne Ramirez made a little floral ruffled romper — oh goodness this is cute!

Finally, Flickr user a2assiramarah made a raglan tee with a hand drawn elephant and coordinating leggings for her second baby girl.

The cool

Which is not to say the sweet items aren't cool, but only that I needed to make some categories here, so... these are cool.

Emily Breck says she feels meh about these footed baby pants, but I think they are pretty awesome:

baby got back leggings + feet

Masha at the Itinerant Seamstress blog made some awesome outfits for her fourth (not yet arrived) baby — I love her use of stripes!

The free Brindille and Twig raglan hoodie pattern was pretty popular for the sew-along. My friend Lee made two awesome versions—the red is my favorite, I love the striped hood lining:

second hooded raglan

Laurel made one too!

Brindille & Twig Hoodie 12-18M

And I made a bicycle-print one, with matching bicycle fabric pants:

My first sewing project since D was born 9 weeks ago. Little dude doesn't mind it's two sizes too big. #SHBsewalong #brindilleandtwig #raglanhoodie #sewingforboys #bicycleprint

Elena of Randomly Happy loved her Grainline Hemlock Tee so much she made her little guy a mini version:

Ms. McCall of Brown Paper Patterns blog copied a ready-to-wear cardigan and added a hood to her cute striped version:

And Flickr user oes1 made several fantastic outfits using patterns from Ottobre magazine — I love the knee patches here especially!

The geeky

Given your hosts, how could there not be a large component of geek-tastic baby clothes made for the sew-along?

We are huge Miyazaki fans here at Polka Dot Overload headquarters, so I may actually have squealed out loud in excitement when I saw adorable Totoro costume that AJ at Confused Kitty Creations made for her 9-month-old baby (and a matching one for her 2.5-year-old) using an online tutorial. (Like me, she mostly sews late at night when the kids are in bed):

(I am definitely tempted to copy her with a set for my kids... but I know my daughter would far prefer to dress as Kiki from Kiki's Delivery Service.)

Becky of Sew and So blog guesstimated what size T-shirt her (not yet born) baby Jedi would fit into when the new Stars Wars movie comes out in December, and made this adorable colorblocked Star Wars quote top using scraps and freezer paper stencils:

Yoda shirt

Hannah of Making Rivendell in the Desert made a gorgeous LOTR-inspired baby eleven dress for her baby-to-be. Also: not only is she pregnant, she has three small children, so we were all in awe of her ability to find any time to sew at all. Here's how she did it:

With 3 kids under the age of 4, and being pretty pregnant with the baby that I'm actually making these things for (thus, needing sleep), I found with this sewalong how to get sewing time in: firstly, to sew in little chunks of time (15ish-25ish minutes) during their snack times or when they're in quiet play, the key being always being willing to walk away in a second when the kiddos were unhappy. This meant that I had less negative feelings about sewing, and the kids were happier, and I was happier (and less frustrated)... Also, exchanging my 1 hour or so after the kids go down that I used to spend on Pinterest/internet, for sewing time instead. I would have "sewing days" which were no internet days.

Baby Elven Dress with Belt

SHB Sew-Along host Cindy went into geeky baby sewing overdrive, and made her little Hobbit a ... Hobbit costume. To wear in front of a mini Bag End. While chewing on his Cindy-made teething One Ring. WOW.

In front of his hobbit hole

Not to mention a slew of geek-tastic fabric marker decorated tees, including a Firefly "Blue Sun" logo tee:

Geeky SHB shirts

Meanwhile, I made my little dude a way-too-big blockprinted Lego-inpsired onesie to coordinate with the Lego dress I made for his big sister:

Block-printed Lego Blocks Onesie/Bodyshirt

Phew, I think I got at least one baby clothes project from everybody in here? Please let me know if I missed you and I'll edit the post.

Thanks so much for joining us, whether you sewed just a little baby bib or a whole pile of elaborate baby outfits!

Thursday, May 7, 2015

A Polka-Dot Lego Dress, Onesie and Necklaces (Also: Fun with Block Printing!)

Block-printed Lego Dress + Bodyshirt

What with all the Small Human Being-focused sewing going on, I think my daughter was feeling a little left out. So I pulled out one of the unfinished (unstarted?) objects I felt most guilty about: her Lego Cityscape sundress. I sort of meant to make it for Kids Clothes Week, but baby wasn't really napping, and I fell down the crafty rabbit hole of experimenting with block printing and... well, here it is.

She loves it, if it isn't obvious. I really struggled to edit down the photos on this one!

Block-Printed Lego Cityscapes Dress (Oliver +  S Popover Sundress)

Backstory: As some of you may recall, about a year ago, I had a little "Lego Dress Showdown" to choose which blocks-themed dress idea to make for my daughter's Lego-themed fourth birthday party.

Can't Decide: Lego Dress Ideas for My Daughter's 4th Birthday Party

The cityscape design with the sun (which was partly inspired by this Oliver + S tutorial on raw edge appliquĆ©) was by far the most popular, but alas, I was so tired and nauseous from my pregnancy it never happened. And her Lego birthday party was a disaster — shortly before the other kids showed up, little Z started throwing up EVERYWHERE. It was too late to cancel the party (which was in the lobby of our building) but she was so sick she didn't even eat a single bite of the amazing allergy-free Lego cake my mom made for her (no dairy, eggs or nuts):

The #allergyfree #Lego cake awaits the birthday party guests... #dairyfree #eggfree #nutfree #sesamefree and more #foodallergy

The other kids came and played with all the Duplos and games we had set up, and we recorded a video of them singing happy birthday to her and wishing her well. She recovered by the evening but is still sad about missing her birthday party to this day.

But I digress. Back to the dress!

Block-Printed Lego Cityscapes Dress (Oliver +  S Popover Sundress)

Lego dress basics:

The pattern: The Oliver + S patterns free Popover Sundress pattern. I actually own a bunch of not-free-at-all Oliver + S dress patterns, but I went with this free shoulder-tie dress because it is so simple — the plain front makes a great blank canvas for embellishment. It was a fun and quick sew, and the directions are just as great and detailed as with their paid patterns. My only quibble is that there isn't much ease across the tummy; if I make it again, I'll add some width and gather or pleat the dress front to the yoke.

Sizing: I made the size 7 (probably about two sizes too big) as I'd like her to be able to wear it for a good long while.

Fabric: Bright blue and yellow broadcloth from Tru-Mart Discount Fabrics (a crowded little store over by FIT that has some great deals sometimes).

Notions & tools, etc: Steam-A-Seam Lite 2 (for the appliquƩ). Fabric paint (Jacquard Neopaque nontoxic paints, which I already had around because I am a craft supplies semi-hoarder), Speedball Lino Cutters, Tee Juice Classic fabric markers (for the dots), some Blick EZ Cut block printing material, a foam brayer and foam brushes.

Blockprinting references used: I already had Lotta Jansdotter's Lotta Prints: How to Print With Anything From Potatoes to Linoleum... which is very inspiring, but slightly vague on the technical info and handholding needed to get good results. Luckily my local library had a more nitty-gritty detail book available, Fabric Printing at Home by Julie Booth.

Techniques used: Mock French seams (my first time trying this), homemade bias binding (for the straps) with a Clover 1" bias tape maker.

It took a lot of experimenting to get my DIY rubber blocks to print clearly on my fabric. Deepika has a cool tutorial on the Pattern Review blog using wood blocks but I wasn't about to start wood (or lino) carving, so I used E-Z Cut Printing blocks:

Trying #blockprinting on fabric for the 1st time to make clothes for the kids for #kidsclothesweek & #SHBsewalong but it's not going well... I carved a stamp from EZ Cut & it works fine on paper, but...

After I got the impressions looking fairly good, I blockprinted the Lego towers and sun onto the yellow fabric, and the yokes. (It's all the same block, I just painted different parts of it before stamping to get some partial impressions). I heat set them (oh goodness, it takes FOREVER to heatset with an iron on so much fabric!), used fusible web to stitck them to the dress front, then stitched them down with a zig zag for extra security:

Block-Printed Lego Cityscapes Dress (Oliver +  S Popover Sundress)

For the back I decided to make it look like the blocks were tumbling down:

Block-Printed Lego Cityscapes Dress (Oliver +  S Popover Sundress)

I had a moment of panic when she tried it on and declared it resembled an IKEA apron (the yellow and blue?) but once I added the dark green polka dots with a Tee Juice marker, the resemblance faded.

Z wore the dress on a walk to our local branch of the Brooklyn Public Library (doesn't it look cute peeking out as a skirt?)...

Block-Printed Lego Cityscapes Dress (Oliver +  S Popover Sundress)

The librarians loved it and invited her to the monthly Lego Club.

Block-Printed Lego Cityscapes Dress (Oliver +  S Popover Sundress)

She had a blast building a "Flying House Pirate Ship" with some mermaids and wizards on it).

Block-Printed Lego Cityscapes Dress (Oliver +  S Popover Sundress)

While I had the paints and block out, I decided to make a blocks onesie for the little guy as well using my Kwik Sew 2433 baby layette pattern and some random knit scraps left over from other projects. I made the 9-12 month size, so it's HUGE on my 3-month old, but he's growing fast.

Block-printed Lego Blocks Onesie/Bodyshirt

Big Sis tried to give him some building tips using her old Green Toys "My First Blocks" but he was skeptical:

Block-printed Lego Blocks Onesie/Bodyshirt

So she gave up and played with the blocks herself:

Block-printed Lego Blocks Onesie/Bodyshirt

For the necklace, my husband drilled holes in some Legos and Z and I arranged them until we got something we liked. Hers:

Block-Printed Lego Cityscapes Dress (Oliver +  S Popover Sundress)

And mine (shown here on the day of her ill-fated party):

Been sick for a few weeks and didn't get to sew special #Lego dresses for Z's birthday party today but I did make matching mother/daughter Lego necklaces.

Conclusion: Neither garment is perfect (but whatever, perfect is the enemy of good, etc), but I had a lot of fun and feel like I learned a lot in my block printing experiments and am now a bit obsessed with thinking about how I can decorate my own fabrics. While at the library I also picked up A Field Guide to Fabric Design: Design, Print & Sell Your Own Fabric (Traditional & Digital Techniques) by Kim Kight (formerly of True Up blog, now a fabric designer for Cotton and Steel) and it made me want to experiment more with Spoonflower again. (We'll see if that actually happens).

In the meantime, Z is loving her Lego dress, and I am thrilled that I finally finished it.

Block-Printed Lego Cityscapes Dress (Oliver +  S Popover Sundress)

**Disclosure: Actions you take from hyperlinks within this blog post may yield commissions for polkadotoverload.com (quite likely to be spent on yarn or fabric or possibly diapers).

Thursday, April 30, 2015

SHB Sew-Along: Giveaways & Wrap-up (Comment by May 7!)

So I startled awake in a sleep-deprived haze this morning to realize "Oh, hey! Today is the last official day of the SHB Sew-Along!" (see here if you don't know what I'm talking about). The good news was: I did it! Somehow despite having a tiny baby and a four-year-old I managed to sew things. Lots of things, actually. OK, so I mostly had to sew in 15-minute chunks when baby was catnapping (or stay up too late and really deprive myself of sleep), but I still managed to finish four baby garments, a bib, two nursing tops and a baby carrier.

But I'll save a summary of all my makes for another post: this one is to share yours! Cindy of Cation Designs, Clio of Clio & Phineas and I have been following all the awesome, quirky, nerdy, pretty and/or cute things you all have been posting to the Flickr group, Instagram, Twitter and your blogs, and we are super glad you decided to sew along with us -- whether you were a new parent, pregnant, or sewing for friends and family.

And we have prizes for you!

Prize #1: a free copy of the adorable Oliver + S Lullaby Layette PDF pattern (random giveaway)

We have two copies of this cute and comfy layette set to give away, sized for babies and toddlers up to 24 months. At least one of you already made this during the sew-along--this romper with coordinating hat is from Laurel of Dart & Gather (who is too busy to blog these days, but still sews many lovely things):

NL6360 Hat & Oliver and S Layette Set

Prize #2: A year's subscription to Ottobre Design magazine (one chosen from each category)

We have three one-year subscriptions to Ottobre Design children and youth sewing pattern magazine to give away!

That's four thick issues packed with stylish patterns — from sweet and classic to modern and edgy — for babies, toddlers, and kids. All modeled in inspiring fabrics by adorable children. Cindy, Clio and I are going to put our heads together and pick a winner from each sew-along category (baby clothes, baby accessories/quilts/toys, stuff for parents/maternity/nursing). Please don't ask me what our exact criteria are, because we're too tired and covered in spit-up to know yet.

The rules

In order to enter both of these giveaways, please:

  1. Leave a comment on this post linking to one (or more) of your favorite makes for the Sew-Along (whether on Flickr, Instagram, or your blog/website), with your...
  2. Email address or other way to contact you should you win.
  3. Basic details of what pattern and materials you used (if not already mentioned on the Flickr page or blog post)...
  4. A bit about who you sewed the for (your 6-month-old baby, a pregnant friend, whoever!)...
  5. And how you managed to find the time/inspiration to sew at all!
  6. Deadline: May 7 at midnight (yes, we know it was an April sew-along, but we won't tell if you use an extra day or two to finish up your projects... I still have a half-finished nursing top and a few not-done baby bibs sitting next to my serger).

Once all the entries are in, give us tired mamas a few days to select and notify the winners, and post a roundup featuring your fantastic creations (spoiler alert: there will be lots of nerdy Lord of the Rings themed-items).

Baby D says: thanks for joining us! (shown here in a Basquiat bodyshirt I originally made for his big sister, on a polka-dot Peanuts quilt made for him by a friend):

Baby D enjoying a beautiful handmade gift from a quilter friend - a polka dot Peanuts quilt (we both used to work for the company that licensed Peanuts) . Little dude is wearing a #memade Basquiat onesie upcycled from his Daddy's T-shirt.

Sunday, April 19, 2015

Finished: Quick & Cheap DIY Tablecloth Ring Sling (& Thoughts on Finding Time to Blog AND Sew)

Better photos of my DIY tablecloth ring sling, with actual baby. #SHBsewalong #babywearing #babyDWood #isew #tcrs

Becoming a sewing blogger is contradictory: blogging can inspire you to sew and can be creative in itself, but it can also be a time suck that takes you away from your sewing machine. Suddenly you have to find time not only to to make your project but to photograph (and photoedit) it, write it up (and edit it), answer comments — and, if you're really intense, provide detailed tips, tutorials and even patterns.

So given my limited free time lately as the mother of an 11-week-old boy and a 4-year-old girl I've been trying — and failing — to shorten my blog posts, limit the excessive amounts of detail and cut back on all the sketching and sewing planning and organizing of fabric and patterns I enjoy so much, but which rarely turns into actual sewing. And I'm giving myself permission to take really quick photographs in front of the only spot in my apartment which is vaguely clean and not worry that I can't crop out all the clutter.

I do think planning and sketching can help ensure a garment fits and flatters and actually gets worn ... but since I'm trying to break out of a sewing lull and seriously squeezed for time, it's probably better just to grab a pattern and fabric and just SEW.

(And yes, of course I realize it is possible to sew or knit without publicly documenting it... but at this point, it's almost a compulsion. Part of me just doesn't feel a project is truly complete until I've blogged it, Raveled it or Pattern Reviewed it... or at least Instagrammed it.)

So, anyway. I made a baby carrier out of a fuschia Mahogany brand tablecloth for the Small Human Being Sew-Along and it was ridiculously easy and satisfying. Start to finish the whole project took less than an hour for pressing, pinning and sewing, and that was INCLUDING watching the video tutorials and reading the instructions. It probably took less time than typing up this blog post.

DIY Fuschia Tablecloth Ring Sling

The details:

Pattern: Used the free "A simple un-padded sling" ring sling tutorial with gathered shoulder option from Jan Andrea's Sleeping Baby Productions baby crafts page — she has a huge wealth of free baby carrier sewing patterns, with great videos and essential tips on selecting safe and supportive fabric, weight-bearing rings and strong thread. I didn't bother with a pocket as I didn't have enough extra fabric.

Fabric: Half of a 90" x 60" Mahogany fuschia and yellow tablecloth (100% cotton jacquard). After washing, my piece was about 87" x 29", and the final sling measureds 75" (12" is taken up by the rings area).

It can be hard to find high-quality, supportive and pretty fabrics at a budget price for babywearing, but Mahogany cotton jacquard tablecloths have been road-tested extensively by many babywearers, come in many cool patterns and colorways, and are quite popular for DIY wraps as well.

Notions: Weight-tested size large silver aluminum rings from SlingRings.com, high-quality polyester thread (I used Mettler Metrosene, but Guttermann is also popular for sling-making).

Cost: About $25 for the tablecloth half and sling rings together. Which is pretty sweet as commercial ring slings often cost between $85-$200.

I split the other half of the tablecloth with Clio, so we're going to be babywearing twinsies.

DIY Fuschia Tablecloth Ring Sling

I cannot emphasize enough how much I ADORE this carrier. I've been wearing it all over the place for the last few days — even for outings of several hours. I love the bright pink color, I love how soft and supportive it is, and how "grippy" the fabric is (it really grips the rings and stays put once well-tightened). Baby D seems to love it too, as he falls asleep very quickly in it! And it is much more comfortable than it might look, as most of the weight is spread across the back, not the shoulder.

DIY Fuschia Tablecloth Ring Sling

I'll probably get more practical use out of this sling than anything I've sewn.

This shot probably best shows the actual color:

DIY Fuschia Tablecloth Ring Sling

Again, I'm trying to keep this post short, but the Sleeping Baby Productions instructions are great and easy to follow. Do read them carefully, though, especially in regard to fabric selection — you are going to be carrying a precious baby in that thing, so you want to make sure you select good fabric and sew it carefully and securely with strong thread (she recommends three parallel lines of stitching, spaced about 1/4" apart).

A word or two about safety:

Making your own carrier can be a quick sewing high, but please make sure you know how to use it SAFELY — that baby is high, tight, secure to your chest (tummy to tummy), breathing freely, and seated in a nice deep pocket. I took a little free babywearing class with professional educations when I had my daughter, and I've also been to some great babywearing meetups with volunteer educators who can (I've just joined my local NYC chapter of Babywearing International, and besides meetups and baby carrier education and troubleshooting they have an awesome baby carrier lending library!)

YouTube is also a great babywearing resource. Here are my two favorite ring sling troubleshooting videos by WrappingRachel: "How to Use a Ring Sling With a Newborn" and "Ring Sling Troubleshooting: Keeping the Rings at Corsage Level".

But don't be too intimidated — wearing your baby should be done carefully in a safe carrier, but once you get the hang of it, it's easy, fun and life-changing. Ring slings are great for sleepy little snuggly newborns who need to nurse a lot (you can nurse in the sling and use the tail as a cover), or tired toddlers who can only walk so far before they want up on your hip. And they don't need to cost a fortune, either — if you sew, you can make a sling.

I have one more pair of sling rings and I think I want to do a brightly-colored double-layer silk dupioni or shantung sling with a pocket (I own one and it is AMAZING, but the color is rather subdued). I think I need about 2.5" yards of 56"+ wide fabric... I've been eyeing this lime silk dupioni from Fabric.com...

... and I have a 20% off coupon, but it is only 54" wide, so that might be a bit narrow once folded and sewn into a double layer... I think I'll keep my eye out for bright-colored nubbly silk on sale.

Or maybe I'll just get another tablecloth!

DIY Fuschia Tablecloth Ring Sling

DIY Fuschia Tablecloth Ring Sling

**Disclosure: Actions you take from hyperlinks within this blog post may yield commissions for polkadotoverload.com (quite likely to be spent on yarn or fabric).

Monday, April 13, 2015

SHB Sew-Along: Bicycle-Print hoodie, pants & bib (Brindille & Twig Free Raglan Hoodie)

My first sewing project since D was born 9 weeks ago. Little dude doesn't mind it's two sizes too big. #SHBsewalong #brindilleandtwig #raglanhoodie #sewingforboys #bicycleprint

Somehow, despite having a 10-week-old and a four-year-old I actually SEWED something. Three somethings in fact!

So I am very glad that Cindy, Clio and I decided to do a little Small Human Being Sew-Along this month, as it has given me the extra kick I needed to push on through the sleep deprivation and squeeze in time at the sewing machine again. (Not that giving birth to and parenting a small human being isn't in itself creative, but I thrive on MAKING and SEWING and DRAWING and KNITTING).

This outfit isn't quite as geeky as say, Cindy's AMAZING Hobbit outfit for her baby boy, but it still makes me super happy. I am a sucker for baby hooded jackets and bicycles, not to mention bicycle-themed baby jackets. So: fun all around!

The hoodie:

The basics:

Pattern: The sweatshirt is the free raglan hoodie pattern from Brindille & Twig, a new-to-me pattern company with lots of great modern designs for baby and toddler knitwear (found via So Zo).

Fabric: About 2/3 of a yard of bicycle-print organic cotton interlock from Birch Fabrics ("Just For Fun Bike It Multi") purchased at my fantastic neighborhood sewing/knitting shop, Brooklyn General (but out of stock at the moment on Fabric.com), plus golden yellow rib-knit from Sew Baby and some thin gray soft cotton lycra knit from my mom's stash.

Size: I agonized over this, but since he already had two me-made hoodies in size 3-6 months, I went for the 9-12 month size. It's way too big, but totally wearable for my big two-month-old guy — and he'll grow into it.

Pattern thoughts: I love the style of the hoodie—something about the shaping, especially of the hood and neckline, just feels very clean and modern to me. And I'm a sucker for piping, even if mine came out a bit wobbly (flat knit piping always seems to stretch on me!) It was also fun to make a pull-over hoodie—no snaps or zippers required this time! The lined hood is a nice touch, and the ribbed cuffs and waistband mean NO HEMMING.

Bicycle print baby hoodie and pants

Instructions: The photo instructions were very clear and helpful, but I do have one small quibble — there weren't a lot of notches on the pattern for matching up pieces, so I added my own.

Modifications: I made the piping 1/8" wider than directed, as I was afraid it would disappear into the seam allowance, and I'm glad I did (So Zo also mentioned this was an issue).

Construction notes: I made this all on the sewing machine, as I was visiting my mom and she doesn't have a serger—I just used one of those stretchy fake overlock stitches on her Husqvarna Viking so any interior seams would look neat.

It didn't occur to me until I started cutting that this bicycle pattern behaves like a large, off-grain stripe. ARGH. But I didn't have enough of the fabric to match everything perfectly, and somehow I went wrong with my attempt to match the pocket to the front—not even CLOSE. I seem to have incorporated a fabric run in there as well:

Bicycle print baby hoodie and pants

Luckily, Baby D cares not a whit (especially since babies have little practical use for pockets):

Bicycle print baby hoodie and pants

Whatever, Mama!

How I found the time: I was visiting my parents and would sneak away to the sewing machine at night once baby was asleep in the portable crib. I even got some daytime cutting and sewing in while baby was sleeping in the swing (oh how I wish it fit in our apartment! lately he only naps in a carrier at our place) and big girl was drawing or playing with her grandparents.

Newborn is asleep, big girl is busy drawing. #timetosew

And a flat view:

Bicycle print baby hoodie and pants

Pressing really saved this project. I turned the presser foot pressure down to 2 and was careful in my sewing, but I still got a fair amount of stretching and waving ... all of which totally pressed out. (I am slowly learned to love the iron.)

For the little knit pants/trousers, I just traced a pattern from a pair of Baby Gap jersey knit pants in size 6-12 months (I had accidentally left my entire stash of Ottobre magazines in Brooklyn!) It's just one pattern piece, but it's not symmetrical—the back is lower than the front for diaper room.

Tracing a pair of knit baby pants to make a #sewing pattern but the perfectionist in me worries the curve will be off by a few millimeters and wishes I hadn't left all my baby patterns at home in Brooklyn. #SHBsewalong #sewingforbabies. I decided to go for cuffed legs for laziness/cuteness, and a doubled knit waistband with no elastic (the jersey has some lycra, so it's sort of a yoga pants effect, very comfortable).

I think the little dude likes them!

I traced the pattern for the matching pants from a Baby Gap pair, then added cuffs & a wide waistband so I wouldn't have to mess with hemming or elastic. #SHBsewalong #sewingforbabies

Again, too big: but he'll grow into them. Next time I may shorten the rise and deepen the waistband bit.

Tummy time view:

Bicycle print baby hoodie and pants

Oh, and the fabric was way too expensive and cute to waste the scraps, so I pieced together a little reversible appliquƩd handkerchief bib from the scraps (I just traced a bib a friend sewed for him, but there are loads of free patterns online) with yellow snaps.

Reversible appliquƩd bicycle-print handkerchief bib

Holding Daddy's hand

Reversible appliquƩd bicycle-print handkerchief bib

No print matching effort by mama

My husband thought there should be four bicycles to represent the four of us, and I think he was right:

Reversible handkerchief bicycle bib flat view

So that's what I've finished so far. I'm also halfway through a (barely) wearable muslin nursing hack of the Jalie scarf-collar top, but I think I need to go pass out now before baby wakes up hungry again.

Also, a question: do my posts lately seem more disjointed/ungrammatical than usual? I can't help fighting this feeling that I am so tired I am not speaking/typing with any true coherence! So... sorry about that. If it is actually true. Or maybe not sorry?

P.S. Here are all of the official April 2015 SHB Sew-Along posts and inspiration so far:

  1. Cation Designs: Introducing the Small Human Being Sew-Along!
  2. B is for Baby, S is for Sew-Along!"
  3. The Small Human Being Sew-Along: Sewing Stuff for Babies and Parents. Join Us! (that's the post with the badges you can grab, by the way).
  4. Polka Dot Overload: Baby Girl Clothes
  5. Cation Designs: Baby Boy Clothes
  6. Clio & Phineas: Gender-Neutral Baby Clothes ("So You're Having a Gender-Neutral Baby")
  7. Cation Designs: Baby Accessories
  8. Clio & Phineas: Sewing for Moms & Dads (diaper bags, baby carriers and more)

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